[media-credit name=”texasmotorspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”400″]
[/media-credit]FT. WORTH, Tx. – June 9, 2012 – Despite extremely strong performances by Tony Kanaan and E. J. Viso, KV Racing Technology had a very frustrating Firestone 550 on the 1.5-mile D-shaped Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Tony Kanaan, behind the wheel of the No. 11 MOUSERELECTRONICS | GEICO – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone car was running in third place when he was hit by Will Power late in the race damaging his front wing. He finished 11th. E. J. Viso piloted the No. 5 CITGO | PDVSA – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone machine from 15th on the grid into the top-six and was poised for his best finish of the season when his car suddenly lost power because of non-team related component failure. He placed 19th. Rubens Barrichello, in the No. 8 BMC | EMBRASE – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone entry, never even got off the starting grid also because of a non-team related part failure and finished 24th.
Kanaan started seventh and was running in seventh when he pitted for the first time. Unfortunately, the air jack failed and when the team resorted to a manual jack the front wing was damaged. The team got him back out without losing a lap and then re-pitted to finish the stop. At that point Kanaan had dropped to 21stplace, but he responded and marched through the field getting back to eighth place. During his second stop he again pitted twice the first time to repair the air jack and fuel the car, the second to put on tires. Again, he did not lose a lap, but dropped back to 16th place. For the second time he fought his way back through the field working his way into fourth place. He moved into third place with a little over 50 laps remaining where he remained until lap 188 when he attempted to pass Will Power for second place. At that point, Power blatantly moved over to block and severely damaged Kanaan’s right front wing. Kanaan pitted for repairs, his eighth of the race, and when he rejoined the race was in 12th place and a lap down. Power was assessed a drive through penalty for his actions.
“I have to thank my sponsor Mouser, this was their home race and I feel bad that I couldn’t bring home a good result, Kanaan said. “I also want to thank my crew guys, we had a problem on the first pit stop and they managed to get it sorted and send me back out. Will Power then did the biggest block on me ever. We have been talking about safety and that wasn’t cool. I did go and talk to him after the race and we talked it out. I had a busy night, it was unfortunate that happened because I think we had a pretty good car and hopefully we put on a good race for the fans.”
Kanaan made his 13th appearance at TMS today. He has finished in the top-10 nine times including a remarkable seven top-five showings with a win in 2004 (second in 2003 race No. 1; 2004 race No. 2 and 2007). Kanaan hasearned three top-six finishes in the first seven races this season (sixth in Detroit, third at Indy, fourth at Long Beach). The 37-year old Brazilian earned 19 points today and remains ninth in the championship race with 160points.
Viso contested his sixth race at TMS. The 27-year-old Venezuelan qualified 16th, but started 15th after Mike Conway was penalized for an unauthorized motor change. Viso patiently, but steadily worked his way through the field and after getting three outstanding pit stops from his crew was running in sixth place at the halfway mark of the 228-lap race. Viso was clearly having his best race of the season and in line for his best finish, when his car lost power on lap 129 when a non-team related component failed. The mileage limit on the component was slated to last the season.
“We had a strong performance today,” Viso said. We started with a car that was not in the best shape, however stint by stint we made it better. By the third stop we had a pretty good car that gave me the tools to fight my way into the top-six. At that point we had a problem that cut all the power on the car which ended my race. I am very proud of the work my crew had been doing week after week. Unfortunately, our results don’t reflect how strong our performance has been in every race. We all know this is a tough sport, so we have to just keep fighting and good times will come very soon.”
In six races at TMS, Viso has a best finish of seventh in race No. 1 last year (placed 10th in race No. 2).
This is the first race he has not finished this year earning two top-10 finishes in the first seven races (eighth at St. Petersburg and 10th at Brazil). Viso scored 12 points today and is 16th in the standings with 118 points.
Barrichello, a veteran of 19 Formula One seasons, contested just his second oval race and first at TMS. He qualified 14th, but started 13th due to the Conway penalty. When the command was given to start the race, his engine failed to fire leaving him alone on the grid when the rest of the field pulled away. His crew feverishly worked to get the car started but were unable to. After 10 laps were completed the team rolled the car back to the garage ending Barrichello’s day. Even more frustrating was the fact that 30 minutes prior to the race, the team performed a systems check which went flawlessly.
Barrichello, who finished the first five races of the season, has had two consecutive DNFs (did not finish) both due to problems beyond the team or his control.. He opened the season with a 17th place finish in his IndyCar debut at St. Petersburg, but then followed up with three consecutive top-10 performances (Barber, eighth;Long Beach, ninth; Brazil, 10th) and an 11th place finish in his Indy 500 debut, which earned him the Chase Rookie of the Year honors. At Detroit he also had a non-team related component fail which ending his race on lap 11 and then today he never got off the starting grid. The 40-year-old Brazilian scored six points and is now 17th in the championship standings with 118 points.
Next up for KVRT is the Milwaukee IndyFest, June 15-16, on the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. The race will be broadcast live on ABC Sports Network starting at 1:00 p.m. ET.
KV Racing Technology was founded in January 2003 and joined the IndyCar Series in 2008. The Indianapolis based team is owned by successful venture capitalist Kevin Kalkhoven and 1996 IndyCar Champion Jimmy Vasser. Veteran Motorsports manager, Mark Johnson, is the team’s General Manager. Johnson is assisted by Team Manager Tom Wurtz, Technical Director Eric Cowdin and Operations Manager Steve Moore.
For more information about KV Racing Technology visit: www.kvracingtechnology.com or follow us on Twitter:www.twitter.com/kvracing and Facebook: www.facebook.com/
